Irish Culture & Heritage Blog

Today Irish still lives as Ireland still has a number of local areas known as  'Gaeltacht' where the Irish language is the main language used but it is still in danger. As such any time even a few words as gaeilge (in Irish) pass our lips we are each of us doing something to keep it alive.

The Word Túath is an ancient Irish term that most consider to mean tribe or people. As with almost everything in the Irish language though, there ...

The fire festivals of Ireland form one of the main cycles by which pagans mark the year. These festivals are still honoured today and used in conjunction with the cycle of the equinox as the basis of many a spiritual or ritual practices.

There are many many ways to get into the Irish Otherworld. The folk lore of Ireland is littered with tales of fairy rings, stray sods, fairy trees, mist walls, sidhe steeds, and boats. Each of these mundane appearing things are more than what they seem, functioning as a doorway or stepping over point from our world to the Other.

Ireland has long been a place set between the worlds and here to this very day we have some very firm and rightly observed lore about the folk of the Otherworld. From our early stories we are told the sidhe and the danger that may befall the unwary. One such danger is known as the fairy ring.

The story of Mary Robinson is one that has always had justice, fairness, and equality at its core, and maybe it was this more than anything that saw her become the first woman president of Ireland in 1990.

In Irish folklore there is much ado made of the powers of a Blacksmith. We see this in the high regard Goibhniu holds within the Tuatha Dé Danann to the deference that King Conchobar makes towards Culainn the smith in the Ulster cycle. The knowledge  of fire held by these people, and the skill to use said fire to shape some of the strongest elements has long been held in high regard.

The formation of the Republic of Ireland as an independent country is a long story.
One aspect of the Irish struggle for independence that rarely received enough mention in the history books is the role Irish women played in this struggle, and not just within the home but also in demonstrations, activism, unionization and, when all other avenues failed, radical militant action. The Easter Rising was carried forward on the brave actions of not just Ireland's men, but its women also.

It was Rosie Hackett herself who bragged that "it took four hundred policemen to take four women."

The Republic of Ireland owes a lot to its women heroes for their deeds, their passion and their resilience.

In our work here we have the privilege of sharing in many peoples first experiences of native Irish culture and spirituality, some of which occur here in our island as Ireland still calls strongly for distant people to come and place their feet upon the soil. On so many occasions I have heard folk say 'I cant wait to come back' or even more telling ' I don't want to leave'. It was hard for me to truly comprehend the draw of Ireland until I spent more than a few days away from her.

Sovereign.

Whenever I say this word out loud it always feels heavy upon my lips, as if the word itself carries some indefinable mass. What we can define though, is our current understanding of the word itself.

noun

• a monarch; a king, queen, or other supreme ruler.
• a person who has supreme power or authority.

"I feel, more and more, the time wasted, that is not spent in Ireland." - Lady Gregory.

Isabella Augusta, Lady Gregory was an Irish dramatist, folklorist and theatre manager. She co-founded the Irish Literary Theatre and the Abbey Theatre, and wrote numerous works for both companie